Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

The Book of Form & Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

67 reviews

livcashmere's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Bullying, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

katieconklin's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This book is an interesting concept and does a great job expressing how grief looks different in all of us. However, I basically had to force myself to read it because of how slow paced it is, and the fact that I didn't like any of the characters. The entire point of the book was character development, yet almost all of the character development was brushed over in the last 2 pages of the book in a sort of montage way. It's thought provoking and sends a good message, but is overall just too long and dry for my taste.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Addiction, Police brutality, Alcoholism, and Violence

juliethere's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Car accident, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

morgancleaver's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Death of parent, and Mental illness

Moderate: Drug abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Addiction

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Mass/school shootings, Police brutality, and Drug use

eljarvo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Death of parent

Moderate: Self harm

Minor: Addiction

schopflin's review against another edition

funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

This is a very good book, and has lots of touch points for me (librarianship, materiality of the book, even media monitoring) but there was something just a bit soft-centred and sprawling about it. It's highly readable though, don't let that put you off. It has echoes of Helen DeWitt's The Last Samurai which is less pageturning and more cynical, and which I preferred. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Animal death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, and Drug abuse

Minor: Mass/school shootings

darbylacey's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Medical trauma, Self harm, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, and Mental illness

ericaw212's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

it was hard to get into but the formatting is really cool. and i love a book that asks what is real and doesn’t answer it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal death and Self harm

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Addiction

gentle_garbage_baby's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

One of the best books I've read in a long while. Beautifully written. The characters are three-dimensional and all have their good points and flaws - they are fully realised in a way that I think a lot of authors can't do justice. The only thing stopping me from giving it 5 starts is that the end felt somewhat rushed compared to the rest of the book, but it was not a bad ending by any means.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Violence, and Drug abuse

Minor: Sexual assault and Self harm

izabruce's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Fantastic book, funny and emotional all at once. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction, Self harm, Medical trauma, and Fatphobia

Minor: Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, and Self harm